Chapter 9

Rod's POV

I sat on an old stump thinking of how different things were going to be now. What was I going to decide to do? I still had a family and something to live for. Or did I really. I mean what did I live for? These Terrans are actually giving me something to do with my life. I don't have to worry about— but randomly I heard many loud shouts and cheers. I started to make my way over to where the noise appeared to be coming from. Behind the school there was a big circle of marines, firebats, an occasional marauder, and three to four ghosts. I twisted myself through the crowd till I got to the front.

I then saw a big muscular guy in a tank top and shorts. He had a small braid to one side of his head, which went down to his shoulder, and dark sunglasses that he tossed to a marine. Across from him there was a ghost. It looked like the one named Derk I had met earlier. He was a little scrawnier then the bigger guy, but aside from his size, Derk still scared me to a great degree.

"What's wrong chump, you ain't scared are you?" The big guy said.

"Well guys. Look what we have here. Ol' Ben thinks he can take on a ghost. All that music blasting in his ear up in that thor must be getting to him." Derk said, with a grin. There were murmured laughs that spread throughout the crowd.

"You're funny Derk. You really are, but seeing as Plank Man asked me to be in charge and not you must say something about your skill in combat;"

"Okay, let's see if you can live up to your expectations," Derk said with another sarcastic grin. Derk appeared to catch eyes with a girl in a dark armored suit. Her hair was black as a raven's feathers. She rolled her eyes; Derk looked away obviously pleased.

Suddenly the atmosphere got tense. Derk and the other guy were just about to lunge into combat when out of nowhere; a voice rang out and yelled:

"Every man for himself!" and then what looked like Tenny, sprung out of nowhere, tackling Derk. In two seconds everything went from jumpy to chaos. Before I could do anything else I was abruptly thrown onto the back of a firebat and was chucked to the side.

I quickly pulled myself off of my feet and ran as far away as I could. I decided to walk over to the barracks, in hope that I could be alone. As I made my way inside, my heart sank to see a small group of, what I think were called reapers, in the back. They all turned and looked at me. I gave a sheepish smile and walking back toward the exit when something out of the corner of my eye got my attention. Turning around I saw Nicky sitting there with them.

I headed over toward my friend. They were already back deep into their card game. I slowly approached, worried that they would spring around and start yelling at me. Nicky was against the wall so I couldn't quite get to him. So I simply peaked over a reaper's shoulder and looked down at the cards. There were shiny pieces of blue crystals sitting in piles next to each player, Nicky being one of them.

"You want somethin'?" The reaper asked, nearly scaring my pants off. I jumped, making all the reapers turn to me again. You couldn't see their faces, because of the helmets they wore, but I could tell by their body language that they weren't all too happy at the interruption.

"Um… sorry I was just… uh." I tried to say, but luckily Nicky saved me.

"Oh, it's all good guys Rod just wanted to talk to me. I'll skip my turn. Be right back," Nicky said as the reapers stood up and let him out. He led me a short distance away.

"So you're not a medivac. Well that's relieving. So I wanted to talk abo—" I started to say but Nicky cut me off.

"Oh, you have it all wrong. I am going to be a medivac. I was just hangin' out with my reaper buddies." Nicky replied giving a small jester toward them, who gave a nod back.

"Oh… Well that's okay. I have finally thought it over and decided that I am not going to be anything," I said shrugging my shoulders.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I just don't want to go get myself killed that's all. I mean the whole idea is just dumb. The only reason these guys are fighting is because they're too lazy to go and get a real job." I said, trying to explain. "I mean everyone knows that this is all an act. It is cool that we found people that live outside our planet and everything, but the whole Zerg and Protoss thing is all just because people need money. There is no such thing as the Zerg."

"Rod? What about when you had to run away with Jackson; you guys killed some zerglings. And when you were shot by that hydralisk?"Nicky asked shocked. "What about—"

"Nicky, as I said, it is all an act. That thing that got shot in my arm was part of it. They need to make it realistic. So they had a guy in a suit talk in a scary voice and pretend to get burned. You also have to consider—"

"You can stop right there," A cold dark voice growled from behind. I froze in pure terror. Something lifted me up against a wall.

"I'll kill you myself runt." The voice rumbled again. I was thrown around to look straight into the barrel of a huge squared pistol. The reaper flicked a lever on his back which ignited his jetpack. I felt my feet lift from the ground as he dragged me up the wall.

"Crip! That's enough!" Another voice yelled. The reaper stopped.

"Ben, heh heh, you must not understand! This pile of rotten Zerg flesh has just suggested that we are all a fake! I say we peal the membrane from his bones." Crip said, pushing me harder against the wall. I looked down to realize that we were a good ten feet off the ground.

"It's okay bro I will see to it that he is punished, but I kind of need him down here." Ben said.

"Ugh." Crip said before turning back to me and quietly growling: "You get off the hook this time Lifferjingle, but next I see you squakin' that mouth o' 'urs… you'll be strung up by your toes and beaten to death."

Crip let off his jet pack and dropped me on my face. I was relived to be back on the pavement. Unfortanatly, now I had to deal with Ben.

"You are coming with me." He said, grabbing my shoulder and holing me off. Luckily I saw a familiar helmet.

"Ben is this really necessary." Jackson asked stopping in front of us.

"Yes Jackson now back off. You should show me more respect. Is this how you talk to Mr. Plank?" Ben questioned looking Jackson in the eye.

"My apologies, Ben." Jackson said. "But let it be known, you won't be boss forever. So enjoy your wonderful throne while it lasts. Rod I will seeyou later."

"Now let's go Lifferjingle." Ben said, grabbing my shirt and pulling me towards the command center. I'm so screwed.

Ben led me inside and up a flight of stairs. We turned down a hallway and walked through a door. It looked like some sort of control room. There were what looked like flying gears and a giant window at the end of the room. It was like being inside a spaceship.

"Okay pall, we're going to go over some rules that you have obviously not been told," Ben said turning around to face me. "We for one do not tick off other troops. The more trouble you stir up, the more miserable your filthy life will be. Do I make myself clear?"

"Uh—" I started.

"Very good, now sense you have already disobeyed that decree you must, of course, be punished," Ben announced as he rubbed his chin. "Now… I think I am a pretty fair guy. So instead of handing you right on over to the reapers, I am going to give you a fair and decent punishment. I heard that you didn't quite understand what we do and why. So instead of wasting my time giving you a lecture…."

"I am going to let you learn it for yourself," Ben said smiling. My heart seemed to stop. I felt weak with despair. My life would never continue. I would be slaughtered in a endless battle. What have I done? If only I had kept my mouth shut.

"Guuuuh!" I moaned.

"And groaning isn't going to get you anywhere. Oh and also, you will not get the chance to pick what you want to be. If Mr. Plank feels sympathy towards you, you can get promotion from him to let you change," Ben said, delighted in my reactions.

"As of now you will be trained as a marine. And don't you worry, we will give you a nice light weight suit that you can lift," Ben remarked, chuckling.

I had finally grown enough courage to stand up for myself.

"Well… uh… w…w…w…why should I have to… uh… join your stupid little army anyway," I said, trying to act tough.

"Yes! Finally you are getting my point. That's the kind of attitude the Orange Terran needs," Ben said slapping my shoulder. "You will start your training early tomorrow. And I don't want to hear any garbage, because that is a very generous amount of time to get prepared. I'll have some guys come and retrieve you." Ben said, turning me around and shoving me out the door. "Now go gets tough."

And with that he slammed the door to the control room.

"Ugh, I think I'll take the reapers right now." I moaned, dragging my feet down the stairs. I was getting tired and wanted to go to bed. I headed towards the supply depot. I can finally get a good night's sleep.

EDIT: Hi everyone. I simply did I quick revision over this Chapter. I don't know why I picked this one, but I did. I also revised Chapter 10 as well. Most of what I revised are really dumb cheesy sentences and also commas. I am terrible with commas. Thank you for your support and please review!